As a patient at SAMs, we will hold your clinical records. We are committed to storing these in the strictest confidence.

Under the Data Protection Act 1998 you are entitled to access your clinical records or any other personal information held about you. You may do this by contacting our Medical Secretaries.

Should there be a need to share information about you with other NHS agencies, there are strict protocols to ensure the safety of person identifiable information which complies with the Data Protection Act/Caldecott regarding confidentiality.

Should you wish for more information, please ask at reception for a “How we use your Health Records” flyer.

Dr Borhan has a legal duty to explain how we use any personal information we collect about you, as a registered patient, at the practice. Staff at this practice maintain records about your health and the treatment you receive in electronic and paper format.

What information do we collect about you?

We will collect information such as personal details, including name, address, next of kin, records of appointments, visits, telephone calls, your health records, treatment and medications, test results, X-rays, etc. and any other relevant information to enable us to deliver effective medical care.

How we will use your information

Your data is collected for the purpose of providing direct patient care; however, we can disclose this information if it is required by law, if you give consent or if it is justified in the public interest. The practice may be requested to support research; however, we will always gain your consent before sharing your information with medical research databases such as the Clinical Practice Research Datalink and QResearch or others when the law allows.

In order to comply with its legal obligations, this practice may send data to NHS Digital when directed by the Secretary of State for Health under the Health and Social Care Act 2012. Additionally, this practice contributes to national clinical audits and will send the data that is required by NHS Digital when the law allows. This may include demographic data, such as date of birth, and information about your health which is recorded in coded form; for example, the clinical code for diabetes or high blood pressure.

Processing your information in this way and obtaining your consent ensures that we comply with Articles 6(1)(c), 6(1)(e) and 9(2)(h) of the GDPR.

Maintaining confidentiality and accessing your records

We are committed to maintaining confidentiality and protecting the information we hold about you. We adhere to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the NHS Codes of Confidentiality and Security, as well as guidance issued by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). You have a right to access the information we hold about you, and if you would like to access this information, we require this in writing with details of what is required and dates etc. This is to be addressed for the attention of the Medical Secretaries. Furthermore, should you identify any inaccuracies; you have a right to have the inaccurate data corrected.

Risk stratification

Risk stratification is a mechanism used to identify and subsequently manage those patients deemed as being at high risk of requiring urgent or emergency care. Usually this includes patients with long-term conditions, e.g. cancer. Your information is collected by a number of sources, including Dr Borhan and Partners; this information is processed electronically and given a risk score which is relayed to your GP who can then decide on any necessary actions to ensure that you receive the most appropriate care.

Invoice validation

Your information may be shared if you have received treatment to determine which Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is responsible for paying for your treatment. This information may include your name, address and treatment date. All of this information is held securely and confidentially; it will not be used for any other purpose or shared with any third parties.

Opt-outs

You have a right to object to your information being shared. Should you wish to opt out of data collection, please contact a member of staff who will be able to explain how you can opt out and prevent the sharing of your information; this is done by registering a Type 1 opt-out, preventing your information from being shared outside this practice.

Retention periods

In accordance with the NHS Codes of Practice for Records Management, your healthcare records will be retained for 10 years after death, or if a patient emigrates, for 10 years after the date of emigration.

What to do if you have any questions

Should you have any questions about our privacy policy or the information we hold about you, you can:

Ask to speak to the Practice Manager.In the unlikely event that you are unhappy with any element of our data-processing methods, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the ICO. For further details, visit ico.org.uk and select ‘Raising a concern’. Changes to our privacy policy

We regularly review our privacy policy and any updates will be published on our website and on posters to reflect the changes.

The Data Protection Officer (DPO) for South Ashford Medics is Dr Borhan. The Data Officer (DO) is the Practice Manager.

Compliments, comments, suggestions and complaints

At SAMs we are committed to providing high quality healthcare to all our patients. To ensure we meet this commitment we value feedback from our patients.

We have a comprehensive compliment and compaints procedure which can be found on our website, or requested from reception.

If you have comments, suggestions or complaints about any of our health services you can:

We hope you will use our complaints procedure constructively to allow us to look into and, if necessary, put right any problems you have identified or mistakes that have been made.

Please note that we have to respect our duty of confidentiality to patients and a patient's consent will be necessary if that patient in person does not make the complaint.

If you wish to make a written complaint, please write to our Practice Manager (address above) or email on carol.duggan3@nhs.net who will fully investigate your complaint and inform you of the results.

Minor issues that you feel do not warrant a written complaint can be discussed with the receptionist who will either deal with the problem, ask a more senior member of staff to deal with it or arrange for the most appropriate person to ring you.

The Practice Manager will collate and review all complaints and extract learning points for use during staff training sessions.

We believe it is important to deal with complaints swiftly so you will normally have an acknowledgement/initial explanation within 5 working days and a fuller reply within 10 working days.Occasionally, if we have to make a lot of enquiries, it might take a little longer, but we will keep you informed.

We will try to address your concerns fully, provide you with an explanation and discuss any action that may be needed.We hope that, by the end of the process, you will feel satisfied that we have dealt with the matter thoroughly.However, if this is not possible and you wish to continue with your complaint, we will direct you to the appropriate authorities who will be able to help you.

Please find an explanatory link to a leaflet about how to make a complaint.

Violence Policy

The NHS operate a zero tolerance policy with regard to violence and abuse and the practice has the right to remove violent patients from the list with immediate effect in order to safeguard practice staff, patients and other persons. Violence in this context includes actual or threatened physical violence or verbal abuse which leads to fear for a person’s safety. In this situation we will notify the patient in writing of their removal from the list and record in the patient’s medical records the fact of the removal and the circumstances leading to it.